This latest installment in the James Bond franchise marks the 23rd film since Dr. No debuted fifty years ago in 1962. And right from the get go we were riveted by the suave British spy with a licence to kill who always got the girl. Let's face it....any girl. Introducing American audiences to a potent mix of international intrigue, heart pounding action sequences, and a plethora of sexy women with sexually suggestive names (who will ever forget Pussy Galore?), Bond became an instant icon to millions of Boomer generation boys throughout the sixties. It was an age where sex had to be suggested more covertly and Bond films perfected the technique.
So how does Skyfall stack up and more importantly, Daniel Craig as James Bond? Very favorably I do say. There have been five actors to take on the James Bond mantle and with Craig being number six comparisons are inevitable. Most go with Sean Connery as the best of the bunch in the role that he originated. But if he is number one then Craig gets my vote as number two and may actually be the best of all. I think he brings a lot more depth to the character. Instead of being the wise cracking spy, dropping one liners, he is a man that is haunted. He has been affected by the stresses of his job: in which he can go from hunter to hunted at any given moment. In Casino Royale he showed us that having a licence to kill is not all it's cracked up to be. Especially when you actually have to use it.
Skyfall takes Bond to another level and updates and freshens the franchise for the new millennia. This film begins with an exhilarating action sequence filmed in Istanbul. When I go to a Bond film and see exotic locations, mixed with dangerous situations I feel a certain comfort level that seems very familiar. As in You Only Live Twice, Bond is presumed dead after he is shot, falls off a train trestle about a mile over a rushing river; body MIA. Cue music, and Adele sings the beautiful theme to Skyfall which I think tops all the themes songs for all the Bond films. I predict it will win her an academy award next year. I could go on and on about the film and plot, but why would I ruin the experience for you? I will just say all the usual players are being updated. The humor is there in just the right amounts and nods to past films give the movie an air of nostalgia. Even the Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger turns up in the film. Of course what really makes a good Bond film is the villain. Blofeld and Jaws were memorable antagonists for Bond to battle. Now we have another top notch villain in cyberterrorist Raul Silva played by academy award winner Javiar Bardem of No Country for Old Men fame. I mean cyberterrorism? The bad guys used to just want an atom bomb or a laser in outer space. Cyberterrorism can be devastating and all you need is a lap top. I guess this really is a new century. Skyfall is a great film. I highly recommend it and would say this would also make a good date movie.
I give Skyfall a solid grade of A-, not quite perfect, but close to it.
Opening today in select theaters around the country is a Steven Spielberg film about one of the most beloved U.S. Presidents in the history of our country. Entitled (what else?) Lincoln, it stars the incomparable Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, with Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, with Tommy Lee Jones rounding out the starring cast as Thaddeus Stevens, a radical republican congressional leader and committed abolitionist. Other noteworthy players include David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Seward, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who bears and uncanny resemblance to their oldest son Robert Todd Lincoln, and Gulliver McGrath as youngest son, 12 year old Tad Lincoln . This film goes into wide release on November 16. I attended a midnight showing last night so I could give my fifteen or so readers a jump on the buzz about Lincoln.
It seems a little strange that this is the third film released this year with Abraham Lincoln as the title character. Although the other two films are stupid-silly treatments. One has the bearded one killing vampires and the other has him battling zombies with a sling blade! Only Hollywood can come up with such preposterous ideas for films by combining two popular subjects, mixing genres, and? I don't know what they really expect. But Spielbergs' Lincoln is true to it's subject and really bears no relationship to those other two bombs. So I digress. What is next year going to bring? Gerorge Washington being abducted by aliens?
Sorry, back to the task at hand which is to review this brand new film directed by Steven Spielberg who in my opinion is the greatest director of his generation. I know some of you may be wondering about George Lucas, Brian de Palma, among others. I feel that Speilberg has a mastery to use cinema, to tell the story, across many genres, and when he wants to, is genius in doing so. And as long as I am handing out accolades, 55 year old Daniel Day-Lewis is the finest actor of his generation. Yes, Tom Hanks has won more awards but when I see Tom Hanks in a film I see Tom Hanks, doing a great job no doubt. But Day-Lewis actually becomes the characters in his films. He never seems to be the same in anything and once again in this film the BECOMES Abraham Lincoln. In his portrayal he does not disspiont.
With the set design, lighting, camera angles, composition, and I can't stress enough the lighting, one feels like they are transported back to 1864-65. Peering with a historical perspective that no other film I recall can match. You can feel the chill in the White House, which of course is heated with wood burning fireplaces. The only lighting available at the time was candle light or oil burning lamps. Thus all the night scenes are dimly lit and must reflect what it was like back in those days. The interiors of the White House are decorated in period and it is striking at how this film has a look like no other set in the same time frame. All of the actors, are on their A game. As far as Day-Lewis? He is other worldly, not only capturing the look, but the vocal inflection, movement, and body language of the 16th president.
OK, that is what is great about this film. But I also found this film lacking in many ways. For starters I am a history buff and have done a lot of reading about the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln.
When I saw the first trailer for Lincoln I became very excited to see this film given that it's directed by Spielberg. In U.S. history Lincoln is a mythical figure who is on a par with George Washington. There is such a plethora of information "out there" about Lincoln and his life that I was expecting a sweeping epic worthy of such a man. This is really where I was let down. Instead, we are given a plot that is totally focused on the last four months of Lincoln's life. During this time everyone realizes the war is probably winding down and he becomes obsessed with the passage and enactment of the 13th Amendent to the Constitution, abolishing slavery. The film shows Lincoln as a master politician working behind the scenes with his cadre of supporters to acquire the votes in congress to achieve his goal. I don't think congress has of the mid 1800's has ever been this accurately depicted in film Congressmen not only openly fight and argue, they resort to insults and name calling. Sort of reminded me of our congress today. All this is interesting enough but I just felt like I was short changed.
As with all historical films, nothing is going to really be a surprise. We all know how the movie ends. We just don't know how it's going to be shown. I don't like to give details of any film away in a review but I will say that Spielberg has done a masterful job in putting this film together. I read that the original script dealt with the entire Presidency but Spielberg felt that was an impossibility and decided to focus on the final four months of Lincolns life instead of the final four years. I think this may be nit picking but this could have been a GREAT film from Spielberg but instead it is a very good film. With a running time of nearly two and a half hours I certainly think with some creativity he could have shown the evolution of Lincoln through out his Presidency. This would be a great film by almost any other director But Steven, we expect so much more from you. And rightly so.
I give this film a grade of B+
click on link below to see the trailer for Lincoln, sorry about the ad
http://youtu.be/VWpMt2-Z-fc
If you like quirky, off beat, humorous, and just plain fun things well, you would like me. But you will love the British comedy Seven Psychopaths. This second release from director/playwright Martin McDonagh, stars Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Tom Waites, and the indominable Christopher Walken. This is the second collaboration from McDonagh/Farrell, the first being 2008's "In Bruges". Sam may Rockwell; but Walken in Rockin, in this film.
The film is set in Hollywood with Farrell playing Marty Faranan, a screenwriter suffering from writers block and and the early stages of alcoholism. His friend, Billy Bickle (Rockwell), is an out of work actor with anger management problems. To make ends meet Billy and his much older friend Hans (Walken) team up to make extra money by kidnapping dogs, maybe I should say dognapping, for the reward money the owners offer for the safe return of their pets. Not a bad scam when you really think about it. But all goes wrong when they steal a beloved Shih Tzu belonging to sociopathic Charlie Costello (Woody Harrelson), a manically crazy and funny head of some sort of criminal crime gang. The stage is set, the players are cast, let the mayhem begin!
The film begins with Marty trying to work on a screenplay but he just can't get past the the title, Seven Psychopaths. (it would probably help if he would lighten up on the drinking) The first psychopath on his list? A Buddhist monk, but his friend keeps telling him that idea sucks. No, "I want this film to be non-violent and uplifting". That does sounds like a suck butt movie but viewer need not despair, psychopaths doesn't sink into that mire. It's rather a recurring and funny underlying theme in this move within a movie. The real fun happens when each psychopath is revealed one by one. Or I should say one through seven. Marty, Billy, and Hans do a lot of drinking and sitting around talking about the different paths the script can take. Finally Walken's character comments on one plot line by saying "I like it, it has lots of layers". Bickle adds, "yeah like a cake". :p) The best thing about Seven Psychopaths is the how unpredictable the story is as it unfolds. Taking more twists and turns than a mountain road. In a day when film has become so derivative I found this very refreshing. One note, watch the credits, a little extra scene is spliced in. I think this is a good date movie but be warned that there is a LOT of blood and violence presented both realistically and surrealistically. But would you expect anything less from seven psychopaths?
I give this movie a grade of: A-
